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476 Chapter 8 Discrete Mathematics: Functions on the Set of Natural Numbers

(b) Based on your results for (a), guess the minimum
number of moves required if you start with an arbi-
trary number of n disks. (Hint: To help see a pat-
tern, add 1 to the number of moves for n 5 1, 2, 3,
4.)
(c) A legend claims that monks in a remote monastery
are working to move a set of 64 disks, and that the
world will end when they complete their sacred
task. Moving one disk per second without error, 24
hours a day, 365 days a year, how long would it take
to move all 64 disks?
55. Number of Handshakes Suppose there are n people
at a party and that each person shakes hands with every
other person exactly once. Let f ~n! denote the total
number of handshakes. See Exercise 19, page 469.
Show
n~n 2 1!
f ~n! 5 for every positive integer n.
2
56. Suppose n is an odd positive integer not divisible by 3.
Show that n 2 2 1 is divisible by 24. (Hint: Consider the
three consecutive integers n 2 1, n, n 1 1. Explain
why the product ~n 2 1!~n 1 1! must be divisible by 3
and by 8.)
57. Finding Patterns If an 5 Ï24n 1 1, (a) write out
the first five terms of the sequence $an %. (b) What odd
integers occur in $an %? (c) Explain why $an % contains all
primes greater than 3. (Hint: Use Exercise 56.)

8.6 THE BINOMIAL THEOREM

We remake nature by the act of discovery, in the poem or in the theorem.
And the great poem and the great theorem are new to every reader, and yet
are his own experiences, because he himself recreates them. @And# in the
instant when the mind seizes this for itself, in art or in science, the heart
misses a beat.
J. Bronowski

In this section we derive a general formula to calculate an expansion for ~a 1 b!n

for any positive integer power n, or to find any particular term in such an expansion.
We begin by calculating the first few powers directly and then look for significant
patterns. To go from one power of ~a 1 b! to the next, we simply multiply by
~a 1 b!:

~a 1 b!1 5 a 1 b
~a 1 b!2 5 a 2 1 2ab 1 b 2
~a 1 b!3 5 a 3 1 3a 2 b 1 3ab 2 1 b 3

~3! a1b
a 4 1 3a 3 b 1 3a 2 b 2 1 ab 3
The thing that started it a 3 b 1 3a 2 b 2 1 3ab 3 1 b 4 Add like terms
all was this silly newspaper
puzzle that asked you to
count up the total number ~a 1 b!4 5 a 4 1 4a 3 b 1 6a 2 b 2 1 4ab 3 1 b 4
of ways you could spell the
words “Pyramid of Values”
from a triangular array of
~3! a1b
letters. This led my friend a 5 1 4a 4 b 1 6a 3 b 2 1 4a 2b 3 1 ab 4
and me to discover Pascal’s a 4 b 1 4a 3 b 2 1 6a 2 b 3 1 4ab 4 1 b 5 Add like terms
triangle. This happened in
grade 10 or 11.
Bill Gosper
~a 1 b!5 5 a 5 1 5a 4 b 1 10a 3 b 2 1 10a 2 b 3 1 5ab 4 1 b 5
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8.6 The Binomial Theorem 477

When we look at these expansions of ~a 1 b!n for n 5 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, several

patterns become apparent.
1. There are n 1 1 terms, from a n to b n.
2. Every term has essentially the same form: some coefficient times the
product of a power of a times a power of b.
3. In each term the sum of the exponents on a and b is always n.
4. The powers (exponents) on a decrease, term by term, from n down to 0
where the last term is given by b n 5 a 0 b n, and the exponents on b in-
crease from 0 to n.
Knowing the form of the terms in the expansion and that the sum of the powers is
always n, we will have the entire expansion when we know how to calculate the
coefficients of the terms. If we display the coefficients from the computations
above, we find precisely the numbers in the first few rows of Pascal’s triangle:
1 1
1 2 1
1 3 3 1
1 4 6 4 1
1 5 10 10 5 1
Using the address notation for Pascal’s triangle that we introduced in Section
8.4, the last row of coefficients in the triangle is ~ 50 !, ~ 51 !, ~ 52 !, ~ 53 !, ~ 54 !, ~ 55 !, and so
we may write the expansion for ~a 1 b!5:

~a 1 b!5 5 SD SD SD
5 5 0
0
a b 1
5 4 1
1
a b 1
5 3 2
2
ab 1
5 2 3
3
a b SD
1SD SD
5 1 4
4
a b 1
5 0 5
5
a b

Each term exhibits the same form. For n 5 5, each coefficient has the form ~ 5r !,
where r is also the exponent on b. For each term the sum of the exponents on a and
b is always 5, so that when we have b r, we must also have a 52r. Finally, since the
first term has r 5 0, the second term has r 5 1, etc., the ~r 1 1!st term involves r.
This leads to a general conjecture for the expansion of ~a 1 b!n which we state
as a theorem that can be proved using mathematical induction. (See the end of this
section.)
Binomial theorem
Suppose n is any positive integer. The expansion of ~a 1 b!n is given by

~a 1 b!n 5 SDn n 0
0
a b 1
1
SD
n n21 1
a b 1···1
n n2r r
r
a b 1···1
n 0 n
n
a b SD SD
(1)

where the ~r 1 1!st term is SDn n2r r

r
a b , 0 # r # n. In summation notation,

SD
n
n n2r r
~a 1 b!n 5 o
r50 r
a b. (2)
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478 Chapter 8 Discrete Mathematics: Functions on the Set of Natural Numbers

At this point, we have established only that the form of our conjecture is valid
for the first five values of n, and we have not completely justified our use of the name
Pascal’s triangle of binomial coefficients. Nonetheless, the multiplication of
~a 1 b!4 by ~a 1 b! to get the expansion for ~a 1 b!5 contains all the essential ideas
of the proof.
We still lack a closed-form formula for the binomial coefficients. We know, for
example, that the fourth term of the expansion of ~x 1 2y!20 is ~ 203 !x 17~2y!3, but we
cannot complete the calculation without the binomial coefficient ~ 203 !. This would
require writing at least the first few terms of 20 rows of Pascal’s triangle.
Pascal himself posed and solved the problem of computing the entry at any
given address within the triangle. He observed that to find ~ nr !, we can take the
product of all the numbers from 1 through r, and divide it into the product of the
same number of integers, from n downward. This leads to the following formula.
Pascal’s formula for binomial coefficients
Suppose n is a positive integer and r is an integer that satisfies 0 , r # n.
The binomial coefficient SD
n
r
is given by

SD
n
r
5
n~n 2 1! · · · ~n 2 r 1 1!
1·2·3···r
(3)

We leave it to the reader to verify that the last factor in the numerator,
~n 2 r 1 1!, is the rth number counting down from n. This gives the same number
of factors in the numerator as in the denominator.

cEXAMPLE 1 Using Pascal’s formula Find the first five binomial

coefficients on the tenth row of Pascal’s triangle, and then give the first five terms
of the expansion of ~a 1 b!10.
Solution
Strategy: We know ~ 10
0! 5 Follow the strategy.

SD SD SD
1. Use Equation (3) to get
the remaining coefficients. 10 10 10 10 · 9 10 10 · 9 · 8
5 5 10, 5 5 45, 5 5 120, and
1 1 2 1·2 3 1·2·3
10
4
5 SD
10 · 9 · 8 · 7
1·2·3·4
5 210.

Therefore the first five terms in the expansions of ~a 1 b!10 are

a 10 1 10a 9b 1 45a 8 b 2 1 120a 7 b 3 1 210a 6 b 4. b

There is another very common formula for binomial coefficients that uses factori-
als. Equation (3) has a factorial in the denominator, and we can get a factorial in
the numerator if we multiply numerator and denominator by the product of the rest
of the integers from n 2 r down to 1:

SDn
r
5
n~n 2 1! . . . ~n 2 r 1 1!
1·2·...r
n~n 2 1! . . . ~n 2 r 1 1! ~n 2 r! . . . 2 · 1 n!
5 · 5 .
r! ~n 2 r! . . . 2 · 1 r! ~n 2 r!!
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8.6 The Binomial Theorem 479

HISTORICAL NOTE BLAISE PASCAL

Pascal’s triangle is named after At the age of 29, Pascal had a
Blaise Pascal, born in France in conversion experience that led to a
1623. Pascal was an individual of vow to renounced mathematics for
incredible talent and breadth who a life of religious contemplation.
made basic contributions in many Before that time, however, in
areas of mathematics, but who died addition to his foundational work in
early after spending much of life geometry, he built a mechanical
embroiled in bitter philosophical computing machine (in honor of
and religious wrangling. which the structured computer
For some reason, Pascal’s language Pascal is named),
father decided that his son should explored relations among binomial
not be exposed to any mathematics. coefficients so thoroughly that we
All mathematics books in the home Blaise Pascal made call the array of binomial
were locked up and the subject was significant contributions to coefficients Pascal’s triangle even
banned from discussion. We do not the study of mathematics though the array had been known,
know if the appeal of the forbidden before deciding to devote at least in part, several hundred
was at work, but young Pascal his life to religion. years earlier, proved the binomial
approached his father directly and asked theorem, gave the first published proof by
what geometry was. His father’s answer so mathematical induction, and invented (with
fascinated the 12-year-old boy that be began Fermat) the science of combinatorial analysis,
exploring geometric relationships on his own. He probability, and mathematical statistics.
apparently rediscovered much of Euclid Before his death ten years later, Pascal spent
completely on his own. When Pascal was only a few days on mathematics. During a night
introduced to conic sections ~see Chapter 10! he made sleepless by a toothache, he concentrated on
quickly absorbed everything available; he some problems about the cycloid curve that had
submitted a paper on conic sections to the attracted many mathematicians of the period. The
French academy when he was only 16 years pain subsided, and, in gratitude, Pascal wrote up
of age. his work for posterity.

While Equation (3) does not give a formula for ( n0 ), the formulation in terms
of factorials does apply.

SD
n
0
5
n!
5
n! n!
5 5 1.
0! ~n 2 0!! 1 · n! n!
This gives an alternative to Pascal’s formula.
Alternative formula for binomial coefficients
Suppose n is a positive integer and r an integer that satisfies 0 # r # n. The
binomial coefficient ~ nr ! is given by

SD
n
r
5
n!
r! ~n 2 r!!
(4)
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480 Chapter 8 Discrete Mathematics: Functions on the Set of Natural Numbers

cEXAMPLE 2 Symmetry in binomial coefficients Show that

(a) SD SD SD S D
6
2
5
6
4
(b)
n
r
5
n
n2r
.

Solution
Follow the strategy.
Strategy: Use Equation (4)
to evaluate both sides of the
given equations to show that
(a) SD
6
2
5
6!
5
2! ~6 2 2!! 2! 4!
6!
and
6
4
5 SD6!
5
6!
4! ~6 2 4!! 4! 2!
.
the two sides of each equa-
tion are equal. (b) SD
n
r
5
n!
r! ~n 2 r!!
and

S Dn
n2r
5
n!
5
n!
~n 2 r!! @n 2 ~n 2 r!#! ~n 2 r!! r!
Thus

SD S D
n
r
5
n
n2r
. b

cEXAMPLE 3 Adding binomial coefficients Show that ~ 83 ! 1 ~ 84 ! 5 ~ 94 !.

Get a common denominator and add fractions, but do not evaluate any of the
factorials or binomial coefficients.
Solution
Use Equation (3) to get ~ 83 ! and ~ 84 !, get common denominators, then add.

SD SD
8
3
1
8
4
5
8·7·6 8·7·6·5
1
1·2·3 1·2·3·4
5
~8 · 7 · 6! · 4 8 · 7 · 6 · 5
1
~1 · 2 · 3! · 4 1 · 2 · 3 · 4

5
8 · 7 · 6~4 1 5! 9 · 8 · 7 · 6
1·2·3·4
5
1·2·3·4
5
9
4
. SD
Thus

SD SD SD
8
3
1
8
4
5
9
4
. b

Example 3 focuses more on the process than the particular result, hence the
instruction to add fractions without evaluating. When we write out the binomial
coefficients as fractions, we can identify the extra factors we need to get a common
denominator and then add. In Example 2, we proved that ( nr ) 5 ~ n 2n r ! giving a
symmetry property for the nth row of Pascal’s triangle. Example 3 illustrates the
essential steps to prove the following additivity property (see Exercise 61):

SD S D S D
n
r
1
n
r11
5
n11
r11
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8.6 The Binomial Theorem 481

Symmetry and additivity properties

Binomial coefficients have the following properties:

Symmetry SD S D
n
r
5
n
n2r
(5)

Additivity SD S D S D
n
r
1
n
r11
5
n11
r11
(6)

Notice that we used the additivity property from Equation (6) in Section 8.4
to get the ~n 1 1!st row from the nth row in Pascal’s triangle. This justifies our
claim that the entries in Pascal’s triangle are binomial coefficients.
TECHNOLOGY TIP r Evaluating binomial coefficients

Most graphing calculators have the capacity to evaluate binomial coefficients

directly, but we need to know where to look for the needed key. Most
calculators use the notation nCr (meaning “number of combinations taken r at
a time,” language from probability), and the key is located in a probability
(PRB, PROB) submenu under the MATH menu. To evaluate, say ~ 204 !, the process is
as follows.
All TI-calculators: Having entered 20 on your screen, press MATH PRB nCr, which
puts nCr on the screen. Then type 4 so you have 20nCr4. When you enter, the
display should read 4845.
All Casio calculators: Having entered 20 on your screen, press MATH PRB nCr,
which puts C on the screen. Then type 4 so you have 20C4. When you
execute, the display should read 4845.
HP-38: Press MATH, go down to PROB, highlight COMB, OK. Then, on the command
line you want COMB(20,4). Enter to evaluate.
HP-48: Put 20 and 4 on the stack. As with many HP-48 operations, COMB (for
“combinations”) works with two numbers. MTH NXT PROB COMB returns 4845.

cEXAMPLE 4 Binomial Theorem Use the binomial theorem to write out

the first five terms of the binomial expansion of ~x 1 2y 2!20 and simplify.
Solution
Use Equation (1) with a 5 x, b 5 2y 2, and n 5 20. The first five terms of
~x 1 2y 2!20 are

x 20 1 SD
20 19 2
1
x ~2y ! 1
2
SD
20 18 2 2
x ~2y ! 1
20 17 2 3
3
x ~2y ! 1SD
20 16 2 4
4
x ~2y ! . SD
Before simplifying, find the binomial coefficients, using either Equation (3) or the
Technology Tip.

SD
20
1
5
20
1
5 20 SD
20
2
5
20 · 19
1·2
5 190

SD
20
3
5
20 · 19 · 18
1·2·3
5 1140 SD
20
4
5
20 · 19 · 18 · 17
1·2·3·4
5 4845

Therefore, the first five terms of ~x 1 2y 2!20 are

x 20 1 20 · 2x 19 y 2 1 190 · 4x 18 y 4 1 1140 · 8x 17 y 6 1 4845 · 16x 16 y 8, or
x 20 1 40x 19 y 2 1 760x 18 y 4 1 9120x 17y 6 1 77520x 16 y 8. b
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482 Chapter 8 Discrete Mathematics Functions on the Set of Natural Numbers

cEXAMPLE 5 Finding a middle term In the expansion of ~2x 2 2 1x !10, find

the middle term.

Solution
There are 10 1 1 or 11 terms in the expansion of a tenth power, so the middle term
is the sixth (five before and five after). The sixth term is given by r 5 5.

SD S D
10
5
~2x 2!5 2
1
x
5
5 252~32x 10! 2S D1
x
5
5 28064x 5

The middle term is 28064x 5. b

cEXAMPLE 6 Finding a specified term In the expansion of (2x 2 2 1x )10, find

the term whose simplified form involves 1x .
Solution
Strategy: First find the Follow the strategy. The general term given in Equation (2) is

SD S D SD
general term, then simplify.
r
Finally, find the value of r 10 1 10 102r 2022r
that gives 21 as the expo- ~2x 2!102r 2 5 2 x ~21!r x2r
r x r

SD
nent of x.
10
5 ~21!r 2102r x 2023r.
r

For the term that involves 1x or x21, find the value of r for which the exponent
on x is 21: 20 2 3r 5 21, or r 5 7. The desired term is given by

SD S D
10
7
~2x 2!3 2
1
x
7
52
120~8!x 6
x7
52
960
x
. b

Proof of the Binomial Theorem

We can use mathematical induction to prove that Equation (1) holds for every positive
integer n.
(a) For n 5 1, Equation (1) is ~a 1 b!1 5 ~ 10 !a 1 b 0 1 ~ 11 !a 0 b 1 5 a 1 b, so Equa-
tion (1) is valid when n is 1.

(b) Hypothesis: ~a 1 b!k 5 SD SD

k k
0
a 1
k k21
1
a b1···

1SD r
SD
k k2r r
a b 1···1
k k
k
b (7)

Conclusion: ~a 1 b!k11 5 S D S D
k 1 1 k11
0
a 1
k11 k
1
a b1··· (8)

1S D r
S D
k 1 1 k112r r
a b 1···1
k 1 1 k11
k11
b
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8.6 The Binomial Theorem 483

Since ~a 1 b!k11 5 ~a 1 b!k~a 1 b! 5 ~a 1 b!k a 1 ~a 1 b!k b, multiply the right

side of Equation (7) by a, then by b, and add, combining like terms. It is also helpful
to replace ~ k0 ! by ~ k 10 1 ! and ( kk ) by ( kk 1 1
1 1 ), since all are equal to 1.

~a 1 b!k~a 1 b! 5 S D FS D S DG
k 1 1 k11
0
a 1
k
0
1
k
1
a kb

1FS D S DG
k
1
1
k
2
a k21 b 2 1 · · ·

1FS D S DG
k
r21
1
k
r
a k112rb r 1 · · ·

1S D
k 1 1 k11
k11
b .

Apply the additive property given in Equation (6) to the expressions in brackets to
get Equation (8), as desired. Therefore, by the Principle of Mathematical Induc-
tion, Equation (1) is valid for every position integer n.

EXERCISES 8.6
Check Your Understanding
Exercises 1–6 True or False. Give reasons.
1. For every positive integer n, ~3n!! 5 ~3!!~n!!. 3. (a) ~ 85 ! (b) ~ 83 !
2. There are ten terms in the expression of ~1 1 x!10. 4. (a) 98 !
~ 100 (b) ~ 1002 !

3. The middle term of the expansion of (x 1 1x )8 5. (a) ~ 202 ! 1 ~ 203 ! (b) ~ 213 !
is 70. 6. (a) ~ 73 ! 1 ~ 74 ! (b) ~ 84 !
4. The expansion of ~x 2 1 2x 1 1!8 is the same as the 7. (a) 6 · ~5!
5 10
(b) ~ 106 !
expansion of ~x 1 1!16.
4 · ~3! ~ 124 !
9 12
8. (a) (b)
5. ~ 81 ! 1 ~ 82 ! 2 ~ 92 ! 5 0.
~ 6 ! · ~ 63 ! ~ 107 ! · ~ 73 !
S D
10
9. (a) (b)
1 4 1
6. For every positive integer x, Ïx 1 5 x2 1 4 . 10. (a) 10 ! · ~ 4 !
~ 12 10
(b) ~ 85 ! · ~ 53 !
x x
10! 10!
Exercises 7–10 Fill in the blank so that the resulting 11. (a) (b)
7! 7! 3!
statement is true.
12. (a) 8! 1 2! (b) 10!
7. After simplifying the expansion of ~ x 2 2 1x !5, the
coefficient of x 4 is . 6! 1 4! 8! 2 5!
13. (a) (b)
3! 3!
8. In the expansion of (Ïx 2 Ïx1
)6, the middle term is
. 14. (a) 6! 2 3! (b) ~6 2 3!!
9. ~ 83 ! 2 ~ 82 ! 5 .
10. The number of terms in the expansion of Exercises 15–18 Calculator Evaluation Use the Tech-
~x 2 1 4x 1 4!12 is . nology Tip to evaluate the expression.
15. (a) ~ 248 ! (b) ~ 373 ! 1 ~ 375 !
Develop Mastery 16. (a) ~ 5 !
31
(b) ~ 164 ! 2 ~ 12
10 !

Exercises 1–14 Evaluate and simplify. Use Equations 17. (a) ~ 128 ! · ~ 203 ! (b) ~ 257 ! 4 ~ 254 !
(3)–(6). Then verify by calculator. 18. (a) ~ 323 ! · ~ 31
29 ! (b) ~ 318 ! 4 ~ 313 !
1. (a) ~ 93 ! (b) ~ 96 !
2. (a) ~ 3 !
14
(b) ~ 14
11 !
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484 Chapter 8 Discrete Mathematics Functions on the Set of Natural Numbers

Exercises 19–24 Evaluate and simplify. Exercises 45–52 Specified Term If the expression is ex-

19. S D
n
n21
20.
n
n22
S D 21. S D n11
n21
panded and each term is simplified, find the coefficient of
the term that contains the given power of x. See Example 6.

~n 1 1!! k11
n
S D S D n11 S
45. x 3 2
x
D
2 4 4
;x 46. 2x 2 S 1 10 7
3
;x D
S D
r
22. 23. 24.

SD S D
~n 2 1!! 2 10 8
n n 47. ~x 2 1 2!11; x 8 48. x 2 2 ;x
x
k

Exercises 25–30 Binomial Theorem Use the binomial

r21
S
49. x 3 2
x
D
1 15 25
;x 50. x 2 2S 3 12 9
x
;x D
theorem formula to expand the expression, then simplify 51. ~x 2 2 2x 1 1!3; x 4 52. ~x 2 1 4x 1 4!3; x 2
your result.
Exercises 53–60 Solve Equation Find all positive in-
25. ~x 2 1!5 26. ~x 2 3y!4

S D S D
tegers n that satisfy the equation.
4
1 2 6
27. 2 2y 2 28. x 2 1 53. ~2n!! 5 2~n!! 54. ~3n!! 5 ~3!!~n!!
x x

S D
55. 2~n 2 2!! 5 n! 56. ~3n!! 5 3~n 1 1!!

SD SD SD SD SD
5
1
29. 3x 1 2 30. ~x 2 1!7 n n n n 8
x 57. 5 58. 1 5
3 5 3 4 4
Exercises 31–34 Expansion Use the formula in Equa-
tion (2). (a) Write the expansion in sigma form. (b) Expand 59. SD
n
2
5 15 SD
60.
n
2
5 28
and simplify.
61. (a) Show that ( 106 ) 1 ( 107 ) 5 ( 117 ) by carrying out the
31. ~2 2 x!5 32. S
2x 1
y
2
D5
following steps. Using Equation (3), express each term
of ( 106 ) 1 ( 107 ) as a fraction with factorials; then, without

33. S
x2 1
2
x
D 5
34. ~x 2 2 2!6
expanding, get a common denominator and express the
result as a fraction involving factorials. By Equa-
tion (3), show that the result is equal to ( 117 ). See Exam-
Exercises 35–38 Number of Terms (a) How many ple 3.
terms are there in the expansion of the given expression? (b) Following a pattern similar to that described in part
(b) If the answer in (a) is odd, then find the middle term. If (a), prove the additivity property for the binomial

SD S D S D
it is even, find the two middle terms. coefficients

S D
n n n11
1 15 1 5 .
35. ~x 2 2 3!8 36. x 2 2 r r11 r11
x
62. By expanding the left- and right-hand sides, verify that

S D SD
37. ~1 1 Ïx! 5
38. ~x 1 2Ïx!10
n n2k n
5 · .
Exercises 39–40 Find the first three terms in the expan- k11 k11 k
sion of

S D S D
63. Explore
1 20 3 25
Let Sn 5 1 · 1! 1 2 · 2! 1 · · · 1 n · n! 1 1.
39. x 1 40. x2
x x S1 5 1 · 1! 1 1 5 2 5 2! and
S2 5 1 · 1! 1 2 · 2! 1 1 5 6 5 3!
Exercises 41–44 Find Specified Term If the expression
(a) Evaluate S3 , S4 , and S5 and look for a pattern. On
is expanded using Equation (1), find the indicated term and
the basis of your data, guess the value of S8 . Verify
simplify.

S D
your guess by evaluating S8 directly.
2 5 (b) Guess a formula for Sn and use mathematical induc-
41. x 3 2 ; third term
x tion to prove that your formula is correct.

42.
x
2
S 12
D
2 2y ; tenth term
64. Explore Suppose fn~x! 5 ~ x 1 1x !2n and let an be the
middle term of the expansion of fn~x!.

S
43. 2x 2
y 10
2
D
; fourth term
(a) Find a1 , a2 , a3 , and a4 .
(b) Guess a formula for the general term an . Is an 5
~2n!!
44. ~x21 1 2x!8; fourth term n! n!
?